Fall 1983 – Issue 30 - Stanford Lawyer - Stanford University

~o~ 4-(/141~STATE OF THE SCHOOL continuedVictoria S. DiazAssistant Dean, Development andAlumni/ae RelationsDeanDiazDean Diaz began by introducing hertwo closest aides, Elizabeth Lucchesi,director of alumni/ae relations'and Kate Godfrey, director ofthe Law Fund.Alumni/ae relations, Dean Diazsaid, "complement our developmentefforts by fostering the good feelingswhich generate the interest andsupport so vital to the School."Former students of the Schoolnowapproaching 6000 in numberarelocated throughout the country,she noted, with the majority (52percent) in California.Dean Diaz was pleased to reportthat several active School alumni/aesocieties now exist, including groupsin Los Angeles and the District ofColumbia. The School is encouragingthe further organization ofgroups in New York, Chicago, andother cities and areas."One of our goals during these firsttwo years of John Ely's deanship,"she said, "has been for him to meetas many of the School's alumni/aeas possible." The Dean has consequentlytraveled extensively, meetinggraduates and friends at a varietyof functions, an effort which willalways continue but with particularintensity through the coming academicyear.Dean Diaz then described thedevelopment, or fund-raising, programsof the School. These are intwo categories: the Annual GivingProgram (the "Law Fund") and theMajor Gifts Program.The Law Fund includes personalsolicitation at the "Quad" ($100 +)and "Inner Quad" ($1000 +) givinglevels, special reunion-year classdrives, and the annual appeal-aseries of mailings in which classagents play an important role.Since 1970, when the School firstbegan using volunteers extensively,the Fund performance has climbedmore than sevenfold-a tribute, shesaid, to the effectiveness and energyof those who have become involved.The Fund is, Dean Diaz noted, "animportant source of monies for theSchool." During the 1982 calendaryear, $927,242 was raised, of which$510,454 is being used to supporta portion of the School's 1982/83operating budget.Dean Diaz also mentioned theDeferred Giving Program, headedby Charles Stearns ('33), to encourageadvance planning by friends andgraduates of the School. "The Schoolhas been fortunate," she said, "toreceive a number of generousbequests in the past year that haveaugmented its endowment significantly."[A full report ofthe 1982fund yearis included in the Annual Report ofGiving elsewhere in this issue.]The School's development goalsfor next year, Dean Diaz said, are toraise the level of participation- nowonly 31 percent-of alumni/ae in theLaw Fund program; encouragemore Quad and Inner Quad volunteersto make solicitations in person;begin developing a sense of classidentification while future graduatesare still students; and begin solicitingnew graduates in the first yearafter commencement (rather thanwaiting a year, as is the currentpractice). "I think the sooner we canget graduates in the habit of givingnomatter what the amount - themore likely we are to increase ourlevel of participation," she said.Dean Diaz then turned to theMajor Gifts Program. "Most suchfund-raising efforts are," she said,"program- or project-specific." Thepriorities for the next three to fiveyears, she said, are student financialaid and faculty support (primarily forresearch and housing).The School has just launched acampaign-with a letter from ShirleyHufstedler to 500 graduates-toincrease the Carl B. Spaeth Fund,which provides financial aid tominority students.Potential new donors are, she said,being urged to adopt terms for theirgifts that allow the School maximumflexibility to allocate financial aidfunds where most needed, e.g.,scholarships or loans-at any giventime. "We are pleased that the S. H.Cowell Foundation, in its recentgrant, has done so," she said.In working out the complex termsof major gifts-including those involvingdeferred giving, real property,and various kinds of endowments-the School has available,Dean Diaz pointed out, the servicesof the University Office of DevelOpment'ssophisticated legal staff tohelp private counsel and/or donorsdevelop the best plan possible for thegift in question.Dean Diaz concluded with theobservation that "the School hasbeen blessed with the energies andcommitment of our graduates andfriends - many of them presenttoday-who are generous with theirtime and money. We are indeedgrateful."34Stanford Lawyer Fall 1983